Senior Retreat
by WhoNeedsReality
Summary: It's senior retreat time at Capitol Prep, and everything should be all fun and games. However, when you take friendship, rivalry, love, and a little craziness and throw them all together, madness inevitably ensues. High School AU. Multiple POVs. All usual pairings.
1. And So it Begins

**AN: Hey guys! Welcome to my High School AU! I was nervous about doing it, since I usually don't like High School AUs much [not that they're bad, they're just not my thing], and I didn't want to make this clichéd or anything. Eventually though, I couldn't shake this story idea, so here goes!**

 **Katniss POV**

"Jesus Katniss," says Joanna, swinging her bag round the back of the chair next to mine and collapsing inelegantly into her seat, "what time did you get here?"  
"Seven," I answer, not looking up from my laptop.  
I can practically hear her roll her eyes. "Do you hate sleep or something?" she asks, "seriously, that's unnatural."  
"Hey," I retort, "I don't have to explain myself to the school narcoleptic."  
She swears at me cheerfully and begins tipping her chair back as far as she can without falling. I go back to my essay. I finished it a week ago, of course, but it's a big assignment, and I want to make a few edits before I have to turn it in. The wifi at our house _never_ works, so I arrived early to school to try finish it up.  
"Hey guys!" I do glance up this time, and see our friends Madge and Annie arrive. Unlike Joanna, they don't tease me about my non-existent sleep schedule, though judging by Annie's dripping wet ponytail, she must have arrived at school for her 5:30 swim practice anyway.  
Joanna, who is now draped over her desk with her legs hanging off one end and her head hanging off the other, raises a hand in greeting.  
Annie glances at my laptop. "Are you still working on the essay?" I can hear the concern in her voice- she thinks I work too hard.  
"Just a few more minutes, I promise."

True to my word, I hit save after another couple of edits. There, that should be a 95% at least. That is, of course, provided our History teacher bothers to grade this lot. He has a reputation for abandoning our assignments forever, and then assigning grades at random before reports are due.

The bell rings sharply, and most of the rest of our class file in now. Thresh, Gale, and Peeta take their usual seats behind us- I know for a fact that Peeta probably pulled an all-nighter on this essay too. I frown. Is he going to get a higher grade than me? He already beat me on the Maths test, but then again, my Chemistry quiz was definitely better than-"  
"Oh my God, Catnip," my best friend Gale snaps his fingers in my face, "you've got your grades face on already, school hasn't even started yet!"  
My "grades face" as he so aptly puts it, is the expression I wear when I start freaking out about… well, about my grades. I'm about to respond, when an unmistakable cacophony shatters the thrum of the room.

"Alas," cries Joanna faux-dramatically, "the neanderthals are here!"

Sure enough, Finnick, Cato, and Marvel come bounding into the room. I wonder at their energy, considering all of them wake up at the crack of dawn every day for various sports.  
"I heard that, Mason," says Marvel as he practically leapfrogs across the desk, followed by Cato, to his seat. He ends with a dramatic flourish, landing on his desk, bowing, before toppling spectacularly to the floor because Joanna yanked his leg. Peeta and Gale almost fall off their chairs laughing, and even the inscrutable Thresh cracks a grin.  
"Smooth, dude," wheezes Cato through his laughter, pulling a very red-faced Marvel to his feet.  
"Joanna Mason," begins Marvel slowly after collecting myself, "you are the actual worst." He takes a seat, then looks around. "Where'd Aquaman go?"  
"Miss me?" drawled Finnick as he sauntered- much more smoothly than the other two might I add- up the aisle. He beams at Anne as he ruffles her hair on the way past, splattering droplets of water everywhere. She scowls at him, and the rest of us stifle our laughs. Poor Annie. Inexplicably, she and Finnick have never liked each other very much, despite the fact that they've been in the same friend group- our friend group- since as long as we can remember. They're both on the swimming team too, so have to see each other even more than usual, much to their mutual irritation.

Finally, with only seconds before the final bell sounds, the last two members of our group hurry in. Glimmer and Clove, of course, stopped for their usual Starbucks on the way, despite already running ten minutes late.  
"What'd we miss guys?" asks Glimmer.  
"Joanna assaulted your boyfriend," supplies Madge, amused.  
Glimmer turns grinning to Joanna. "Thank you," she says. Marvel yelps an indignant "hey!" but Glimmer just shoves him playfully.

Everyone chatters for a bit before Mr. Abernathy, late as usual, walks- or, more precisely, stumbles into class. There's a murmur as everyone gets their books or computers out. I already have mine on the desk of course.

"Alright people, has everyone finished their essays about the Cold War?" Mr. Abernathy calls from his desk.  
"Yes Mr. Abernathy," we chorus.  
"Okay, email them to me by three o'clock today or it's an F."

I double check my sent box to make sure he has my essay. Good. I can't afford any screw-ups.

"Everyone turn to page ninety in your textbooks Today we're going to be studying the Soviet-"

"Hello, hello, hello!" The unmistakable cadence of Ms. Trinket's voice wafts into the class room almost before she does. The entire class slumps in its seats a little. She is really bloody annoying. Clearly Mr. Abernathy thinks so too.  
"What are you doing here, Effie?" he groans.  
"It's Ms. _Trinket_ actually," she reminds him through gritted teeth. Our history teacher's total indecorum has always irked her. "And I have an announcement to make!"  
She clasps her hands together beatifically. "Children, children, children," she begins, surveying us as though we're a roomful of tiny ducklings, not a room of college-bound seniors.  
"As you all know, senior retreat is coming up!"  
"HELL YEAH!" shouts Finnick from the back, whooping and fist-bumping Cato. Annie shushes him, and he mimes being stabbed in the heart.  
"Quiet please!" Ms. Trinket's voice gets shrill when she's angry, I wince slightly.

"I am delighted to announce that this year's Senior Retreat will be to Panem Glade!"  
She pauses, probably expecting applause, but as nobody knows what 'Panem Glade' is, there is only silence. Her beam falters, but, like the lightbulb that flickers, she continues beaming nonetheless. "The excursion will be in one month exactly! You'll be pleased to hear that Mr. Abernathy and I will be chaperoning."  
Mr. Abernathy splutters spectacularly. Peeta makes a strangled sort of noise. I catch his eye and have a hard time not responding to the mirth I see there. Abernathy and Trinket are certainly an odd combination.

"You will be sent packing lists and travel itineraries shortly. In the meantime, I have your sleeping arrangements! You will be sharing cabins of six. Single sex only!" She looks warningly at a few people around the class.

I tune out as she goes through the list, only sitting up when I hear:

"Cabin Twelve! Katniss Everdeen, Joanna Mason-" Joanna high-fives me under the desk- "Madge Undersee, Annie Cresta," both of them smile across the desks at us, "Glimmer Montgomery, and Clove Pepperman!" We all exhale in relief, glad to be put together. I won't admit it, but I'm just a teensy-bit excited now.

"Cabin Thirteen! Peeta Mellark, Gale Hawthorne, Thresh Ryerson, Cato Strong, Marvel Stoll, Finnick Odair!" The guys all high-five each other.  
"You guys are living the dream," announces Finnick, "you get to watch me sleep."  
"I'm ecstatic," replies Peeta, laughing, "is it okay if I take pictures?"  
"Only if you send them to me," adds Cato.  
"Yeah, we can make merchandise- posters, pillows, mugs, t-shirts, the whole shebang." Marvel nods faking earnestness.  
"We can call the series: Aquaman Drooling," Thresh says, breaking his silence to join in the roast.  
"Hey, Finnick Odair does not drool in his sleep!" protests Finnick.  
"Gale Hawthorne thinks Finnick Odair should stop referring to himself in third person." Gale shoots him a pointed look.

"Never," says Finnick.

Everyone's talking about the retreat at lunch. We've clustered by our usual lunch spot, the cluster of picnic tables under a tree in the courtyard.  
"It'll be fun," says Clove as she picks at a salad, "I mean, at least we're all together, right?"  
Madge nods enthusiastically. "Definitely. I mean, it'll be nice to get away!"  
"But what the hell _is_ 'Panem Glade'?" asks Joanna skeptically from the lower boughs if the tree- her preferred seating place. "It's sounds awful."  
I shrug. "It does sound kind of pointless, and they haven't told us what we're actually doing."  
"Oh my god Katniss!" Marvel mimes scraping his face off in despair. "Just because it won't go on your College Apps doesn't mean it's pointless!"

"Hey just because I care about my future…."

"Not the speech, not the speech, not the speech!" beg Cato and Finnick, "anything but the speech!"  
I roll my eyes at them. "The speech" is my usual explanation of why it's important for me to plan for my future.  
"C'mon guys," says Peeta, attempting to silence his friends, "just because your post-high-school plan is a transatlantic Booze Cruise-" Cato and Finnick high-five- "doesn't mean other people aren't allowed to have ambitions."  
"Whatever," says Finnick. He leans over to steal a french fry from Annie, who swats at his hand and turns sharply to the left. "The real question," he continues, "is how long before Trinket and Abernathy bang."

A collective howl of "ewwww!" ricochets around the circle.  
"Finnick what the hell?" complains Gale, leaning away from him.  
Finnick raises his hands in protest. "Hey, we were all thinking it!"  
"I can assure you we weren't," says Glimmer, looking faintly sick.  
"Besides," I counter, "they hate each other."

"Ah my sweet summer child," says Finnick adopting his most condescending voice, "that is what's known as repressed sexual tension."  
I shudder. "Finnick Odair I swear to god if you don't stop with this depraved conversation I'm going to stab you. In the face. Repeatedly."  
"Please do that," mutters Annie behind me. For someone so sweet and gentle, Annie certainly goes all-out in her Finnick aversion.

Thresh cuts in to change the subject, thankfully. "Hey Katniss, is Rue going over to yours tonight?"  
His sister, Rue, and my sister Prim, are Freshman, and the best of friends. I nod. "Yeah, they're having a sleepover."  
"Ooh can I come?" interjects Finnick. "We can paint our nails, braid each others hair, watch chick flicks… it'll be so much fun!"  
"Finnick if you want to indulge in your Katherine Heigl obsession be man enough to do it without hiding behind fifteen-year-old girls," I say, rolling my eyes at him. I turn back to Thresh. "Are you going to pick up Rue?"  
"Yeah, I'll come by your place after morning practice tomorrow if that's okay?"  
I nod yes.  
"Ew," says Joanna, "I can't believe you guys practice on _Saturday_. Don't you have better things to be doing?"

From there the banter continues, and finally, lunch ends.


	2. Dirty Little Secrets

**AN: May I present Chapter 2! Please keep reading and reviewing xxx**

 **Also, disclaimer: If don't own THG, do you really think I'd do that to Finnick?!**

 **Peeta POV**

I wave goodbye to Gale outside Debate Class as I make my way to the library. The debate went well, even Mr. Snow praised my rebuttal. I have a free period now, which I always look forward to. I slip in to the library, and immediately feel the comfortable familiarity of the musty bookish air envelop me. I smile at the librarian as I make my way to the tables. As usual, Katniss is sitting at the one in the corner, next to the window. Her head is down and there's a little cleft running down he forehead as she concentrates on her work. Quietly, I put my stuff down opposite her. She glances up and smiles at me, a small, slight smile, but I consider it a victory nonetheless. By some stroke of luck, Katniss and I have been in the same free period for the entirety of our high school careers. She made a point of sitting by herself in Freshman year, even though she sat at the same lunch table as I did. Eventually in Sophomore year, I just went up and asked if I could sit with her. To my immense surprise, she said yes, albeit grudgingly, but I still had to ask permission every time. By last year, our seating arrangement had become habitual, and I suspected that maybe she even started to like it. It was always hard to say with Katniss, but the long-and-short of it was, it was gratifying to make her smile.

"Are you doing the Biology?" I asked her tentatively in my quiet, 'library voice.'

She nodded.  
"What did you get for number fifteen?"

She eyes me suspiciously.  
"I don't want to copy," I reassure her, "I got A, but I think it could be C as well. If you don't want to discuss it, that's fine."  
Her features don't relax, but she says "I think it's A. The father's the carrier, so it would have to be."  
I nod. "Okay, thanks."  
Wow. Katniss is uptight about her grades- I know her family doesn't have a lot of money, so I get that it's important for her to win a scholarship to college. She's on scholarship to Capitol Prep as well. I suspect that's why she's always a little wary of me- I'm the only other scholarship student in our grade. I wonder if she sees me as a competitor?

I shrug off the thought and get back to my book. Katniss does the same, and we keep working in silence.

"C'mon Judge Judy I need a ride home!"  
I look up from my book to see Finnick jogging over, dripping water everywhere.  
"If you're going to make fun of my future as a barrister," I say, "please refer to me as Atticus Finch, who is a much cooler lawyer. Also, please put a shirt on."  
He glances down at his bronze chest. "Why? It would be a crime to hide this from the world."  
"I'm not sure if I can handle the glory," I say, rolling my eyes.

We make our way to my car. Finnick has swim practice the same time as I have wrestling, so we tend to carpool a lot.

I'm surprised to see Annie waiting at the car.  
"Finnick," she says, not looking at him.  
He interrupts. "I know, I know, you've finally realized your undying love for me and had to see my glorious visage immediately, despite having just spent two hours watching me shirtless in a pool."  
She glowers at him. "Unlike you, I go to practice for _training_ , not voyeurism. Coach just wanted me to tell you that there's a morning practice tomorrow for the relay teams- you took off before he announced it."  
"That's your excuse," Finnick retorts, "but you could have just texted me! It's okay, Cresta, everybody wants more of this-" he points to his face- "and frankly, I admire your courage in coming to me directly instead of doing the usual social media stalking."  
"You're insufferable!" she snaps, spinning on her heel and storming of.

"Dude," I say to Finnick, "you know you're an asshole when you irritate _Annie Cresta_ of all people."  
"Hey," he protests, "it's not _my_ fault."  
"You spend every waking moment trying to irritate her."  
"It's a hen-and-egg scenario," he argues, "what came first? Her hating me, me hating her… nobody knows."

"Why do you hate her?" I wonder as I climb into the car.  
"I don't know… maybe not _hate,_ but she's so uptight and holier-than-thou."  
"Oh come on," I protests, "Finnick, literally _everyone_ is holier than you buddy."  
"Fair enough," he replies, "but she's just so fun to annoy."

We make most of the car ride home listening to music- or rather I listen, Finnick lip-syncs. I pull up outside his house- it's right on the beachfront, lucky bastard- and he glances at me, his eyes serious for a change.  
"You gonna be okay at home?"  
My stomach clenches, but I nod. "I'll be fine."  
He still looks concerned.  
I force a grin. "The only thing that will hurt me is that you 'glorious visage' won't be available to me until tomorrow."

The tension in his expression breaks, and the humor returns. "Well then, fare ye well, bud. Parting is such sweet sorrow."

He swings athletically out the car, and I pull away, trying not to think about what'll happen when I get home.

 **Glimmer POV**

"TGI Friday!" yells Marvel, pumping his fist in the air, as we pull away from the school in his convertible.  
"That better not be where we're going," I say, pretending to threaten him.  
He looks fake-shocked. "Only the best for my lady," he gasps, "I'd take you to an Applebee's at least."  
I flip him off laughing.  
"So what do you think about this retreat thing?"  
I shrug. "I'd think more if I knew where it was we were going. The school seems to have told us everything _except_ that particular bit of information."

"It's an activities and adventure sports camping complex," he replies.  
"And who told you that, the voices in your head?"  
He waves his phone at me. "Oh ye of little faith. Whilst everyone else was whingeing about the element of mystery, your spectacular boyfriend here took the liberty of Googling it."  
I grin at him. "You make me proud."  
"So what do you think?"  
I steeple my fingers. "I think that this trip will be an excellent opportunity for some… detective work."  
He looks at me questioningly. "You're not going to murder someone and make us find out how you did it are you?"  
"Tempting," I reply, "but no." I lean in closer to him. "I have a sneaking suspicion that a certain friend of ours has a very particular secret that she's not telling me about. And in the unfettered freedom of this camping trip, I intend to find out."  
Marvel pulls into the car park of a restaurant that looks enticingly fancy. "Glimmer Montgomery," he says, "I love it when you talk scheming machinations to me."  
I grin as he kisses me.

 **Annie POV**

" _The Avengers_ or _Guardians of the Galaxy_?" asks Katniss, waving the DVDs at me. I came over after school so that she could work on an English assignment with me, and since it was late, she invited me to sleep over. I persuaded her to take a break, so we were treating ourselves to a movie night. Katniss doesn't seem to own anything other than superhero and action movies, but there's popcorn and Chris Pratt, so I can't complain. "Guardians!" I say.  
She slots the DVD into the laptop and tosses me a blanket. The opening credits go up. "So have you applied to any colleges yet?" she asks, coming back to her pet subject.  
"I've started some essays," I say, "but Katniss- you have got to relax! You're going to get in."  
"Not where I'm applying," she mutters darkly.  
I squeeze her shoulders. "Katniss. Relax. Enjoy the movie."  
Sighing, she reaches for another fistful of popcorn. After a moment, the tension escaped her shoulders.  
I'm glad. The opening scene begins, and we settle into the pleasant lull of film-viewers. It's around the ten minute mark that it happens.  
I feel my heart start racing suddenly, and my throat constricts. I'm nauseous, and I feel closed-off all of a sudden, as though there's nobody else in the world but me. I just have time to think "not again!" before the trembling and sweating starts.  
I'm vaguely aware of Katniss calling my name in concern, but I can't respond. I feel trapped in my own body, as though it's a room that's closing in on me, and I want to be sick. My vision blurs and hot-and-cold shivers run up and down the length of my spine. It's almost a relief when everything goes dark.

"Annie?"  
I blink as I wake up, and see Katniss's green eyes peering concernedly down at me. "I'm fine," I say quickly as I hurry to get up.  
Katniss doesn't look convinced. "Annie what happened?"  
I shake my head. "I just felt really queasy. Must have been something I ate."  
Katniss stares at me. She doesn't quite buy it.  
I fake a smile. "Seriously, it's nothing."  
She doesn't look convinced. "Should I call someone?"  
Crap. "No, no," I shake my head insistently, "I'm fine. It was a passing thing"- I clench my hand under the blanket, squirming with the lie- "I'm fine, I swear! can we finish the movie? I need my Chris Pratt fix."  
Katniss still doesn't look a hundred percent sure, but she doesn't push it. I know Katniss isn't likely to tell anyone about it, so that's one less thing to worry about. As I turn back to the screen, I curse myself inwardly. _Get a grip, Cresta_ , says the voice in my head disdainfully. I swallow and shake myself.

 **Cato POV**

My heart races as the blinking red lights of the car clock switch from 8:59 to 9:00. Right on schedule, she emerges, scaling the tall fence at the bottom of her garden easily. I watch her ascent anxiously, and clamber silently out of the car to help her dismount, but she lands effortlessly. It's almost impossible to pick her out against the darkness of the night, what with her clothes being black and all, but her shape is familiar to me.

I can't see her expression, but somehow I feel her smiling when she catches sight of me.  
"Hey," she whispers.  
"Hey," I whisper back.  
We stand there for a moment before she leans up and kisses me. It's a long kiss, slow and gentle, and I savour it. It feels like a gulp of cold water after running the 5k race. I pull her close to me, enjoying the warmth of her against my chest.  
"Hey champ,"she whispers against my mouth, "we gotta go before someone sees us."

I nod, and we break apart, climbing as silently into the car as we can.  
I pull away as quietly as I can, and soon, we're out of earshot of the house.

When we're a block or so away, Clove pulls the black beanie off her head, freeing her blonde hair.

"Miss me?" she asks teasingly.  
"Not even a little bit," I lie, "I have so many better places to be."  
"Is that right?" she smirks, raising an eyebrow. "Guess I'll have to stop bothering you with all the kisses then."  
"Now let's not be hasty," I say, and she laughs.

We go to our usual spot- a wall overlooking the city. It's around the back of an old warehouse, and sometimes it seems like nobody else in the world knows about it. We talk and sit there for a while, Clove leaning against me, staring out at the glimmering lights of the city.


End file.
